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Researchers have measured critically low oxygen levels in King Harbor after a massive die-off in the Redondo Beach marina....   >>>

Researchers have measured critically low oxygen levels in King Harbor after a massive die-off in the Redondo Beach marina.



Brent Scheiwe, program director at the SEA Lab in Redondo Beach, said he took dissolved oxygen level readings in the harbor after the first reports of the dead fish came in Tuesday morning and found them at almost zero.



“The levels were critically low," he said. "There was pretty much no oxygen in the water."



Scientists are working to determine what caused oxygen levels to drop so steeply that fish estimated to be in the millions suffocated and deposited a silver sheen of carcasses, many of them sardines, among the rows of docked boats. It may be days before the precise cause is known.



Marine biologists at USC installed oxygen sensors in King Harbor after an algal bloom caused a mass fish die-off in 2005. They are now probing the harbor for clues about the cause of the latest kill, said biological sciences professor David Caron.



**The excerpt is taken from LA Times article, "Redondo Beach fish die-off: Tests show oxygen levels at 'almost zero,' written by Tony Barboza and Kenneth R. Weiss and linked below. Do click through to read more about this strange natural phenomenon.**